​​North Korea announced Wednesday it launched a long-range rocket which it says put a weather satellite into orbit.

Such a feat, if confirmed, would represent a major step forward in the country's quest to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

North Korean state media called the launch a "groundbreaking" mission that met the "last instructions" of Pyongyang's late leader, Kim Jong Il.

Comparison of the UNHA-2 and UNHA-3 rocket flight paths

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Comparison of the UNHA-2 and UNHA-3 rocket flight paths

​​"The second version of satellite Kwangmyongsong-3 successfully lifted off from the Sohae Space Center in Cholsan County, North Pyongan Province by carrier rocket Unha-3 on December 12. The satellite entered its present orbit," read the statement.

The U.S. military [The North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD] said Wednesday that North Korea had "deployed an object that appeared to achieve orbit." Other analysts made the same assessment.

A successful launch of a satellite into orbit would boost the domestic credentials of Kim Jong Il's son and successor, Kim Jong Un.

The United States, Japan and South Korea are among the many countries that have condemned the launch. Russia and China - which, like the U.S., are permanent members of the U.N. Security Council - have criticized the move.

China is North Korea's main ally and biggest trading partner.

The timing of the launch surprised many observers and Western diplomats, given that reports on Tuesday suggested North Korea was disassembling the rocket because of technical difficulties.

David Fouse, an analyst with the Hawaii-based Asia-Pacific Center for Strategic Studies said the notoriously reclusive leadership in Pyongyang may have intentionally misled the international community.

"I'm not sure whether there was an intelligence failure or if the North Koreans were just kind of playing games with the international community," he said. "They might have wanted to catch people off-guard and I think they did surprise a lot of people with the timing of this launch."

North Korea said on Monday a "technical deficiency in the first-stage control engine module of the rocket" could delay the launch by a week.

In April, North Korea's three-stage, liquid-fueled Unha-3 rocket exploded just minutes after liftoff. Previous attempts to fire long-range rockets in 2006 and 2009 also ended in failure, even though North Korean officials insisted that they succeeded.

The U.N. Security Council condemned the failed April launch and ordered foreign assets seized from several North Korean companies linked to financing and procuring weapons and missile technology.

Weeks after that launch, the United States responded by canceling a deal that would have provided the impoverished North with 240,000 metric tons of food.